BRITISH GAS bosses hit back at accusations of profiteering yesterday — and blamed the Government's green agenda for pushing up household bills.
The power giant went on the offensive after reporting profits of more than £500million for 2011.
Chief executive Sam Laidlaw said Government eco charges and taxes now account for 15 PER CENT of every home's power bills.
And he warned environmental costs could DOUBLE to £160 per household per year by 2015. He asked: "Is that right in the current climate?"
The comments came as British Gas-owner CENTRICA reported annual profits of £2.4billion — up 1 per cent.
British Gas made £522million. That figure is down 30 per cent on 2010 as mild weather slashed residential gas consumption.
Watchdogs said customers, who have endured huge bill hikes, would be "gobsmacked" by the figures. But Mr Laidlaw argued British Gas is at the mercy of world markets and the Government's bid to speed up the green revolution.
He said ministers should slow down initiatives including the bid to double the number of homes given free insulation in a year.
Mr Laidlaw told Sun City: "We are all committed to tackling climate change.
"But in this economy, is that the right thing to be doing at this point? We should be looking at spreading out the cost over a number of years." He said the last Labour government had made a big mistake by signing up to a renewables target rather than just reducing CO2.
Mr Laidlaw added: "If we were just focused on reducing CO2, we could achieve that through a combination of energy efficiency and nuclear — whatever was the lowest cost. Renewables are typically more expensive."
British Gas cut electricity bills by 5 per cent in January — but upped gas and electricity rates by 18 per cent and 16 per cent respectively last August.
Mr Laidlaw said it was "too early" to predict what would happen to bills this year.
All directors are having their pay frozen this year — along with 30,000 staff — as part of plans to save £500million across the business.
